Community

 

4/23/26

4/2/26

Although I didn’t know any of its members well, I miss Greg’s community at Aegis Living’s memory care unit (euphemistically called Life’s Neighborhood). Visiting Greg as often as I did, I got to know his co-residents’ quirks. When I noticed that they had fresh haircuts or new clothes, I made a point of complimenting them. If we made eye contact, I greeted them by name (just as all the staff did). In bits and pieces, usually from staff members I chatted with, I learned about their lives before they came to Aegis: “Dr. Russ” (as everyone called him) had been a physician; Jamie a principle architect in one of Seattle’s major firms; Sandy a physical education teacher and horse rider; Linda a pianist. Many died while Greg was in residence there; many others moved in. One was taken abruptly by her family to another facility.

5/13/26

5/28/26

All declined significantly during the time that I knew them. Very few had regular visitors. All will die fairly soon, and I’m sad that I will not learn that news.

A couple of sketches here are of some of the musicians who come through on rotation every two weeks during “happy hour.” I often wondered how they felt performing for an audience whose members were often dozing and not responding much to invitations to sing along. Applause was quiet. I always applauded enthusiastically because I did appreciate their music lifting the energy in the room (or at least lifting mine).

5/31/26

6/2/26

Most of all, I miss the wonderful staff who took care of Greg 24/7. Most are immigrants who seem to originate from cultures that are comfortable with aging and with touching in comforting ways. The first time I saw a caregiver grasp Greg’s hands reassuringly and speak to him warmly and respectfully (which he responded to with a broad smile), I thought to myself, “I want her to take care of me someday.” They speak to residents as if they were friends and not people whom they had just cleaned up after toileting or spoon-fed like infants. I don’t have many sketches of caregivers because they came and went too quickly, attending to residents as needed.

6/4/26

6/9/26

The exception is Theodore, whom I did sketch a few times. Part of the life enrichment team, Theodore is an angel on earth (a description I’ve often heard applied to nurses). With compassion, tenderness and infinite patience, he makes each resident feel heard, seen and special. I sometimes timed my visits to coincide with his daily meditation hour because I knew I would benefit from his talks as much as the residents would. I will miss him dearly.

This post includes the last sketches I made of Greg’s final community. I thank everyone there for giving me the privilege of being a tiny part of their lives -- one last experience I could share with Greg.

6/19/26

6/22/26

6/26/26

Kerry Park Postcard

 

7/15/26 Kerry Park, Queen Anne neighborhood ("Changing Form" sculpture by Doris Totten Chase)

All the local touring I’d been doing with visiting friends made me a bit sentimental about my beloved hometown. Although it’s not as easy to love Seattle during the Big, Wet Dark, to say it’s the best place on planet Earth in summer is not hyperbole. Everyone who came here from somewhere else agreed. Temps in the mid- to high-70s, mostly sunny, low humidity: Find me a place better than this in summer, and I’ll book a flight. Until then, you’ll find me here (at least until September).

When an errand took me to the Queen Anne neighborhood, I made a stop at Kerry Park to show my love by sketching a scene that postcard photographers adore. If Her Majesty had appeared behind the Space Needle, I would have put her in, but she was hiding behind a thin haze on the horizon.

A Stroll Through Winslow

 

7/14/26 Mt. Baker from Seattle-to-Bainbridge ferry

On the last day visiting friends Cathy and Bettina were in town, we decided we didn’t get enough ferry riding the day before; we took a different ferry to Winslow on Bainbridge Island. (According to several Instagram travel influencers who fell into my feed, riding a ferry is a quintessential, must-do Seattle summer thing. Indeed!)

Enjoying a leisurely brunch on the Streamliner Diner’s porch, strolling through Winslow’s “downtown” (a few blocks long), and popping into charming shops, we were more tourists than sketchers that day. We also visited the Bainbridge History Museum and Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, both of which are free every day. The latter currently has a retrospective show by Carletta Carrington Wilson that especially moved me.

I made only two sketches that day: One was of a huge “retort” (vessel) from the turn of the 20^th century that was used to transport toxic creosote (below). Easily wide enough in diameter for people to walk through and read the placards inside, the retort is a permanent exhibit outside the Bainbridge History Museum.

Creosote retort and a card from  Blackbird Bakery, 
where we all indulged in delish chocolate chip cookies.

The second sketch was of Mt. Baker from the ferry to Bainbridge (above). While not visible from Seattle, Baker is often visible from Edmonds, but I never did catch it from the beach during Sketcher Fest. It makes a nice pairing with the sketch I had made of Mt. Rainier from the Edmonds ferry the day before.

Valkyrie Viking Ship

 

7/13/26 Valkyrie Viking ship moored on Liberty Bay, Poulsbo

On the Monday following Sketcher Fest, USk Seattle led an excursion to the small town of Poulsbo on the Olympic Peninsula. The outing was intended to give visitors still in town for Sketcher Fest a taste of true Pacific Northwest summer entertainment that included a ferry ride.

The highlight of the trip was the opportunity to sketch the Valkyrie Viking ship made with traditional Nordic construction methods. Owner Erik gave us a brief history of the ship, which was built by his family.

On the ferry ride back to Seattle, I caught stunning Mt. Rainier giving everyone aboard her best side.

Sketcher Fest, Day 2: Waterfront, Artist Talk, Sketchbook Fair

 

7/12/26 Olympic Beach sketch walk

For the fourth year, Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Band gave sketchers great
music to sketch by outside the Edmonds Waterfront Center.

As artist liaison, my primary responsibility on Day 2 was to support Kumi during the Sketchbook Fair and her artist talk and document both with photos and videos. In between, I snuck in a few sketches during USk Seattle’s waterfront sketch walk and during Kumi’s lunch break when I staffed her table. I also remembered to make a sketch on the reverse side of my badge – a Sketcher Fest tradition!

While staffing Kumi's table, I sketched the crowds surrounding artists at tables across from me. The people drawn in white are the artists.

Making a quick spin around the Sketchbook Fair, I was dazzled by the stellar lineup of urban sketcher artists who generously shared their sketchbooks. I wish I’d had a week in there to look through each sketchbook closely. Alas, it was only quick hellos and glances through a few pages. (Shown at end of post are just a few of the artists I managed to snap before their tables were surrounded by admiring fans.)

Kumi's presentation focused on how her connections with people gave her many opportunities along her art career path.

Finally, I also took a bit of time to view USk Seattle’s very own exhibit of sketchbooks. I was honored and thrilled for my book to be alongside those of all my admired artist friends (below).

My sketchbook was part of an exhibit by USk Seattle members.

I sketched Olympic Beach on the reverse side
of my volunteer badge -- a Sketcher Fest tradition.

Kumi wore a traditional Japanese "festival" jacket
for her presentation and at the Sketchbook Fair.

Eleanor Doughty

Nishant Jain

Paul Madonna and Amy Stewart

Swasky

Andika Murandi

Kumi Matsukawa

Sketcher Fest, Day 1: Market Sketch Walk and Kumi’s Workshop

 

7/11/26 Edmonds Summer Market

After a year of planning and anticipation, Sketcher Fest 2026 was finally on! As an event partner, USk Seattle led three free Sketch Walks throughout the weekend. First up was Saturday morning at the Edmonds Summer Market. I was so busy chatting with other sketchers I bumped into that I didn’t have much time to sketch, but I didn’t mind – meeting friends I hadn’t seen in a year or more is one of the most important parts of participating in an event like Sketcher Fest.

I had to miss the throwdown to get on with my main responsibility of the day: Serving as volunteer liaison for guest artist Kumi Matsukawa. As I had mentioned previously, I’ve been a fan and friend of Kumi for years, and when I heard she would be a guest artist this year, I immediately volunteered to be her liaison. Using markers and other materials in varying colors Kumi showed her hard-working students how to “wink and squint” (her term for using one eye to measure proportions and squinting to block out details) their way to stronger, more confident sketches. 

Kumi Matsukawa's workshop

Registering Kumi's workshop participants (photo by Kumi)

My job as liaison was to register participants, take lots of photos for promotional use by Sketcher Fest and the instructor, and generally assist Kumi and her students during the workshop as needed. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was inspiring to watch Kumi teach and rewarding to help a sketcher I have long admired.

Kumi describing her unique process to students

Extracurricular Sketcher Fest: Ice Cream Cruise and More

 

7/10/26 Ice Cream Cruise from Fishermen's Terminal through the Ship Canal, Lake Union and Lake Washington

After three consecutive years of participating in the Ice Cream Cruise, it is still my favorite Sketcher Fest event! (See my posts from 2025 and 2024.) Although not strictly part of the weekend event in Edmonds, the cruise offers the guest artists and volunteers an opportunity to relax and socialize before the busy event gets under way. This year, Gab Campanario organized cruises on two days, so more sketchers were able to attend.

Boarding the chartered Fremont Avenue at Fishermen’s Terminal, we cruised through the Lake Washington Ship Canal to Lake Union and all the way to Lake Washington and back. There is something so relaxing and serene about being on the water on a sparkling morning, sketching while chatting with friends.

As I’ve done in previous years, I made small vignettes of anything that caught my eye, chasing perspective around bends in the water or simply overlooking perspective. 

Sticker by Johnny

After we docked again at Fishermen’s Terminal, some of us stayed for lunch and then lingered for more sketching at the terminal (below).

Fishermen's Memorial

Fishermen's Terminal

When that was done, a few of us still hadn’t had enough fun, so we moved on to nearby Ballard Locks, where we discovered stamps for our sketchbooks in the visitors’ center.

Ballard Locks

What a fun-filled day!

Group photo just after the cruise

Lake Washington Ship Canal and Montlake Bridge

Fishermen's Terminal throwdown

Ice Cream Cruise throwdown